“I definitely think you are going in the right direction. Look at Gordon’s substitutes bench and the coaches he has working with him – they are all men with good club and international experience.

“With the way the Scottish league is right now there are young players just starting to come back through again. But it will take a little more time.

“It’s the same with England. We want to be right at the top and our fans expect that but if you can get a little bit of momentum going to begin with, results will come.

“The support for both countries is generally fantastic, and with a fan base like Scotland had at Wembley the team can only go in one direction.”

Lampard still vividly recollects the first time he came into contact with Strachan. He said: “I made my debut for West Ham as a 17-year-old in a game against Coventry and Gordon was coming on at the same time for them. I have a photograph at home of us standing waiting to come on.

“I’ve met him on several occasions and every time you’re in his company it’s an education. I sat next to him one night at an awards ceremony in London and we spent the whole night talking football, which was fascinating for me.

“He spoke on the stage about me and, without being egotistical, it was great to hear someone like that talk about you in such a complimentary way.

“Even before he took the Scotland job and you watched him on TV he was one of these pundits who made you sit up and take notice of the things he said.

“Scotland have been crying out for a manager with his skills for some time now and I’m sure the country will only benefit from having him in charge.”

Lampard acknowledges the 3-2 scoreline will have surprised the sceptical down south who expected England to win in a canter. He added: “In England the feeling would have been that we should have won comfortably. That’s the mentality.

“But when I looked at the Scotland team I knew that wouldn’t be the case. I haven’t come up against Scott Brown before but I thought he was very impressive, especially in the first half. It’s the first time I’ve seen him in the flesh and he stood out.

“But then you look at James Morrison, Shaun Maloney and James McArthur. I know James didn’t get on but these are all guys with Premier League experience.

“Kenny Miller put in a great shift to, and his goal was top drawer. There’s no doubting there is a quality of player there for international football.

“Darren Fletcher is fighting back from illness and if he gets fit he’s a top quality Premiership player to add to the mix.”

Lampard will now do what any fan would do and take the bragging rights back to the Bridge – and take aim at one man in particular.

Billy McCulloch is a Chelsea masseur who also works with the Scotland players. And Lampard said: “Billy was giving us stick about how Scotland would win at Wembley, so we’ll dig him up about that at Chelsea’s next training session.

“Billy’s a great character and a big plus for Gordon’s backroom team.”

But far from the only plus if Lampard’s glowing assessment of Scotland, and their future, is anything to go by.